Optus to launch new broadband prices to match Telstra

Optus plans to unveil a new pricing plan for its high speed internet offering within weeks, adding fuel to a possible price war between it and rival Telstra Corp.

Optus chief executive officer Chris Anderson said yesterday the nation's number two telco would launch new charges for its broadband services following price cuts earlier this week by Telstra.

"We are currently reviewing our pricing policy at the moment and I think we will see some new material from Optus over the next few weeks," he told journalists.

"We are going to launch a very very competitive DSL (digital subscriber line) offering."

On Sunday Telstra slashed the charges for its BigPond services to $29.95 a month for high-speed ADSL (asymmetric digital subscriber line) internet.

That came a day before Optus, owned by Singapore Telecommunications, launched its own DSL offering, with a cheapest price of $49.95 a month.

Anderson told the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce luncheon that Optus's entry into the DSL market would drive up the national rate of broadband take-up.

Only seven per cent of Australian households use broadband, but 45 per cent are connected to the internet, he said.

"Invariably, when Optus enters a category that Telstra previously had exclusively, we bring a new vitality and a fresh marketing approach - which drives growth in the total number of customers coming into a category," he said at the luncheon.

Commenting on the third generation (3G) market in Australia, Anderson said Optus would continue to take a prudent and conservative view on moving to the 3G network.

Hutchison Telecommunications is the only player in the Australian 3G market with its "3" branding.

But Hutchison faces an uphill battle as it tries to lift its customer numbers in order to recoup the $3 billion outlaid to get the network up and running.

Hutchison said earlier this week it expected rivals Telstra, Optus and Vodafone, to enter the 3G market by mid-2005.

While Anderson said this was "possible", Optus was not in a hurry.

"The good thing about Australia is ... (we) can have a 3G network up and running in a matter of months if we needed to," he told journalists.

"Our base stations are enabled, we're ready to go. The problem at the moment is the services are not quite there.

"If the market opens then we'll be there and I think there will genuinely be a demand for 3G services."